Women's Soccer

Gauchos Dominate Gonzaga But Lose Third Straight, 1-0

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
UC Santa Barbara dominated Gonzaga on Friday night, but late in the first half it was the visiting Bulldogs who scored the only goal of the match to send the Gauchos to their third straight loss, 1-0.

UCSB (2-5-3) outshot Gonzaga (6-4-1) by a margin of 17-7, including 10-2 in the second half, but goalkeeper Jessie Thalman had six saves and the Bulldogs had one team save in the win.

Junior forwards Cristin Leverson and Christine Soma combined for the lone goal of the match at the 41:58 mark in the first half. Soma took a ball on the right end line and sent a pass through the goalie crease. The pass eluded several Gaucho defenders and Leverson, coming down the left side of the goal box, one-timed a shot past a sprawling Katie Wright, UCSB's junior goalkeeper. Gonzaga had few other opportunities to score and Wright had just two saves in the match.

The Gauchos had several outstanding scoring opportunities, primarily in the second half. During one sequence with about 20 minutes remaining, UCSB kept the ball in the Bulldog goal box for nearly a minute, but could manage just two shots, one on-frame. Senior midfielder Darci Gwartz, junior forwards Heather Young and Chandi Bickford and sophomore forward Sami Svrcek all had golden scoring opportunities in the second half, but none could knot the match.

In addition to its 17-7 advantage in shots and 7-3 edge in shots on goal, UCSB had 10 corner kicks to the Bulldogs one.

The Gauchos will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 1, when they travel to UC Davis for a match that kicks-off at noon. The contest against the Aggies will be the team's final non-conference outing before Big West play begins at home on Friday, Oct. 6 against Long Beach State.